Robben Island

has become a symbol of the triumph of the human spirit, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999.

On 1 December 2001, Nelson Mandela officially opened the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront. A tour of the Robben Island Museum is a multifaceted journey which begins at the Gateway, where multi-media exhibitions, a restaurant, an auditorium, and a museum shop are housed.

A Robben Island Museum tour includes a half-hour ferry trip, a guided tour of the Maximum Security Prison, interaction with an ex-political prisoner, and a bus tour of the historic buildings and the unique flora and fauna of the 575-hectare Island.

Tour Schedule

The standard tour to Robben Island is 3.5 hours long, including the two half-hour ferry rides. Ferries depart at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm, weather permitting, from Nelson Mandela Gateway, at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

Standard Tour

The standard tour to Robben Island is 3.5 hours long, including the two half-hour ferry rides. Ferries depart at 9am, 10am, 12pm, 1pm, 2 pm and 3pm, weather permitting, from the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town. The Robben Island Tour includes:

    * A return boat trip across Table Bay
    * A visit to the infamous Maximum Security Prison Interaction with an ex-political prisoner
    * A 45-minute bus ride with a guide providing commentary
    * The opportunity to explore the Murray's Bay Harbour precinct attractions, such as the Muslim shrine, or kramat, and the Museum Shop.

Educational Tour

The Robben Island Museum has a dedicated Education Department. Among its many activities is the facilitation of subsidised school tours.

Educational Concession tours: R30 per children up to 58 learners and R60 per educator, maximum two educators. Normal tour for children/youth: R75 per child.

The standard school tour is 3.5 hours long, including the two half-hour ferry rides. A visit includes:

    * A tour of the prison.
    * Interaction with an ex-political prisoner.
    * A bus tour of the Island.
    * Seeing some of the Island's special wildlife, such as African penguins and rare bontebok.

History of Robben Island

People lived on Robben Island many thousands of years ago, when the sea channel between the Island and the Cape mainland was not covered with water. Since the Dutch settled at the Cape in the mid-1600s, Robben Island has been used primarily as a prison.

Indigenous African leaders, Muslim leaders from the East Indies, Dutch and British soldiers and civilians, women, and anti-apartheid activists, including South Africa's first democratic President, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and the founding leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, were all imprisoned on the Island.

Robben Island has not only been used as a prison. It was a training and defence station in World War II (1939-1945) and a hospital for people with leprosy, and the mentally and chronically ill (1846-1931). In the 1840s, Robben Island was chosen for a hospital because it was regarded as both secure (isolating dangerous cases) and healthy (providing a good environment for cure). During this time, political and common-law prisoners were still kept on the Island. As there was no cure and little effective treatment available for leprosy, mental illness and other chronic illnesses in the 1800s, Robben Island was a kind of prison for the hospital patients too.

Since 1997 it has been a museum and a heritage site. The museum is a dynamic institution, which acts as a focal point of South African heritage. It runs educational programmes for schools, youths and adults, facilitates tourism development, conducts ongoing research related to the Island and fulfils an archiving function. 

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